CHAPTER 1:

What is Psychology?
Terms:
Psychology
Science
Behavior
Mental processes
Critical Thinking
Empirical method
Positive Psychology
Structuralism
Functionalism
Natural Selection

Biological Approach
Neuroscience
Behavioral Approach
Psychodynamic Approach
Humanistic Approach
Cognitive Approach
Evolutionary Approach
Sociocultural Approach

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Psychology
The scientific study of behavior and mental process

Systematic methods
What can be directly observed
Thoughts, feelings, motives

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Science of Psychology

Critical Thinking - is the process of reflecting deeply and

actively, asking questions, and evaluating the evidence
Skepticism
Objectivity
Curiosity

When were thinking about behavior

and mental processes, why would
we want our thinking to be
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critical?
McGraw-Hill Education.

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Psychology A General Science

Not Limited to Psychological
Disorders
Positive Psychology
emphasizes human strengths

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Something Psychologist Would

Study: Narcissism Epidemic?

Narcissism
usually
self-confident
self-assertive
self-centered

Generation Born Since 1980s

More narcissistic than early generations
vs.
Attitudes have been stable over time

Are you more narcissistic than your parents?

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History of Psychology
Western Philosophy
Biology and Physiology
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
1879 established 1st psychology lab

Wundts Structuralism
structures of the mind
introspection
systematic, detailed
self-report
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History of Psychology
Western Philosophy
Biology and Physiology
William James (1842-1910)
James Functionalism
functions / purposes of the mind
minds interactions with outside world
stream of consciousness
Why is human thought adaptive?

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History of Psychology
Western Philosophy
Biology and Physiology
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
William James (1842-1910)
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
On the Origin of Species, 1859
psychology and evolution
Natural Selection: Next Slide

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Psychology and Evolution

Natural Selection
competition for resources
favors genetic characteristics that
promote reproduction
and survival
environmental changes
alter course of evolution

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Contemporary
Approaches
Biological
Behavioral
Psychodynamic
Humanistic
Cognitive
Evolutionary
Sociocultural

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Biological Approach
Neuroscience
nervous system
structure
function
development
genetics
biochemistry

The brain is the physical basis of all thoughts and

emotions
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Behavioral Approach
Environmental Determinants of
Observable Behavior
Notable Behaviorists
Ivan Pavlov
John Watson
B.F. Skinner

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Psychodynamic Approach

Freud
Psychoanalysis
unconscious thought
early childhood family experiences

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Humanistic Approach

Positive Human Qualities/Potential

Free Will
Notable Humanistic Theorists
Carl Rogers
Abraham Maslow

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Cognitive Approach

Mental Processes Involved in

Knowing
Information Processing
how humans interpret incoming
info, weigh it, store it, and apply
it

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Evolutionary Approach

Explanations of Human Behavior:

adaptation
reproduction
natural selection

Notable Evolutionary
Psychologist
David Buss

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Sociocultural Approach

Social and Cultural Environments

Differences
between ethnic and cultural
groups
within and across countries

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Chapter Review
Explain what psychology is and describe the positive psychology
movement.
Discuss the roots and early scientific foundations of psychology.
Summarize the main themes of the seven approaches to
psychology.

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